sleep apnea test

[petemurphy]

hello anyone done one of these - would you go to your doc or try an online one who send you a test? thanks

[lufbramatt]

My wife had one back in Feb via her nhs doctor. No problem getting the equipment for the test but it seems like there s very limited capacity in the country to interpret the results- 40 week waiting time or something stupid.

[Bluevanman]

Ex girlfriend went to the doctor's who sent her to see a specialist at the hospital....where she proceeded to fall asleep during the tests, she was told she was the worst case they'd ever seen

[rodericb]

Yes but I'm not in England. The key with sleep apnoea is that you stop breathing and your blood oxygen saturation drops. You can sort of test yourself by wearing a proper blood oxygen monitor (also known as a pulse oximeter) but it needs to be fit for purpose - it needs to sample and record pretty much continuously as the apnoea events occur too quickly for typical smart watches to pick up.

I had a fitbit watch, which I noticed had SP02 tracking. It was telling me I was getting perfect sleep, no SP02 problems average 98% woohoo.... Which was complete and utter crap as my wife was telling me I was stopping breathing for an uncomfortably long time. As it got worse I started waking up (I used to sleep no worries through the night). On occasion I was woken by what seemed like bright lights shining at me, loud bangs.... Meanwhile fitbit was telling me I'm getting perfect sleep. What was especially annoying was that this SP02 monitoring required a premium version of the fitbit app.

Anyway, the list of suitable SP02 monitors is pretty short. I got a Wellue 02Ring, which seems to be well regarded. Smart watches may have moved on since my experience but a smartwatch might not be suitable (cost if you don't already have one), you might be charging it when you sleep or whatever....

So you might get some sort of confirmation that you're suffering the effects of sleep anoea. A sleep test will confirm it and will tell you the causes of bad sleep - be it not keeping still, or having actual sleep apnoea (and the type of apnoea), how many events you're having and a secondary assessment might set you up with titration settings if you do require machine therapy.

[EmilA]

I had this done privately and it was quite a simple test. All in cost me about £500, not cheap by any means but it was quick, efficient and helped me get my tonsils removed asap.